Directional control blasting wheel



WNW 11 I 1 W. M w L E i 2 M M. A o .W M M w N EW. 6 m 4 5 l My 5 Z 7 M llll|lll \||l\ 0 il 1||4 1| I- ll 2 E. A. LEHMAN FIGJ.

May 9, 1950 DIRECTIONAL CONTROL BLASTING WHEEL Filed Oct. 30, 1946 ATTORNEYS.

y 1959 E. A. LEHMAN 2,507,166

DIRECTIONAL CONTROL BLASTING WHEEL Filed Oct. 50, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. EDGAR A. LEHMAN M (IMAM ATTORNEYS.

y 1950 E. A. LEHMAN 2,507,166

DIRECTIONAL CONTROL BLASTING WHEEL Filed Oct. 50, 1946 Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

EDGAR A. LEHMAN AT TOR NEYS.

Patented May 9, 1950 DIRECTIONAL CONTROL BLASTING WHEEL Edgar A. Lehman, Elkhart, Ind., assignor to American Wheelabrator & Equipment Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application October 30, 1946, Serial No. 706,771

8 Claims.

and extends upwardly therefrom. Within the control cage are a plurality of feed tubes, each feed tube terminating in an oblique ballie plate and in a separate control cage opening or mouth disposed adjacent the inner ends of the throwing blades. Suitable means are provided for adjustably rotating the control cage. Suitable means are also provided for feeding, externally of the wheel any one or more of the several tubes with blasting material.

A great variety of effects and results may be obtained by varying adjustment, sizes and parts of the control cage. For example, two or more tubes may be used to obtain a more uniform blast pattern; different size apertures may be used in the several tubes to give different blasting patterns; different abrasives or different colored pigments may be fed through the several tubes.

The invention also consists in certain new and original features and combinations hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, the invention itself, as to its objects and advantages, and the manner in which it may be carried out, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the multifeed blasting wheel according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the feeding end of one of the feed tubes taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating overlapping blast patterns resulting from the use of two adjoining feed tubes; and

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the feed pattern resulting from the use of five of the six feed tubes and showing how this pattern may be used to treat bowling pins moving on a traveling conveyor.

In the following description and in the claims, various details will be identified by specific names for convenience, but they are intended to be as generic in their application as the art will permit.

Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, certain specific disclosure of the invention is made for purposes of explanation, but it will be understood that the details may be modified in various respects without departure from the broad aspect of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the multi-feed blast wheel comprises in general a support I!) housing blast wheel I I and supporting the multifeed directional control cage l2 which in turn is fed by feeding arrangement :3. It will be understood that the main support it! may be adjustably mounted by means (not shown) so that the entire setup may be moved vertically back and forth to increase the vertical range of the blast.

The support It comprises a vertical mounting panel M to which a semi-cylindrical guard housing l5 may be suitably bolted or otherwise secured. Resting upon guard housing [5 and bolted thereto is cage support It and depending from the guard housing I5 is sleeve I! surrounding the drive shaft 20 of the blast wheel H.

The blast wheel ll includes the drive shaft 20 which may be driven direct by a motor or a belt (not shown) as desired. Shaft 20 supports ahub 23 to which is bolted side plate 22 by a series of bolts 21. A plurality of spacers 25 having streamline bodies, as indicated in Fig. 2, and reduced ends connect side plate 22 with upper side plate 2|. These side plates have radial grooves in which fit removable channeled blades 24. These blades 24 have notched ends seating removable set screws 25 which are threaded into a bushing located in one of the side plates 2i or 22 for the purpose of removably holding the blades 24 in position. The wheel rotates in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, the longitudinal blade channels being on the forward side of blades 24.

The directional control cage 12 comprises a control sleeve 33 having disposed therein a plurality of feed tubes 29, six being shown for purposes of illustration. These feed tubes are, suitably welded to the outer tube 39. Secured to cage tube 36 is a flanged collar 3i (shown as formed by a sleeve with a ring welded thereto) resting upon the upper end of cage support it. Collar 39 has a plurality of set screws 32 engaging the outer surface of cage support It for the purpose of per- 3 mitting a rotary adjustment of the cage 30 within cage support IE to adjust the clock dial position of the cage.

Each feed tube 29 (see Fig. 3) has its lower end cut obliquely and a baflle plate 33 suitably secured thereto. The outer portion of each tube 29 is cut to form a feed mouth 34, the several feed mouths 34 being in register with rectangular openings cut in the lower end of outer cage tube 30, as shown particularly in Fig. 2. These feed mouths 34 are in close proximity to the inner edges of blades 24. V

The feeding arrangement l3 comprises a feed hopper 48 having a plurality of outlet tubes aligned with the several feed tubes 29. outlet tubes each comprises an upper section 4| suitably connected to a lower section 42. Each tube 42 may also have a slide gate 43 (indicated diagrammatically) for variably controlling the rate of feed or entirely cutting off the feed of any particular tube as desired. Instead of the slide gates, fixed orifices of diflferent size may be used to control the rate of feed or a solid plug to cut ofi the feed entirely. The feed tubes may all feed at the same rate or at different rates with respect to each other.

An adjusting arrangement is provided for adjustingthe air gaps 44 between the several outlet tubes 42 and feed tubes 29. This controls the amount of air drawn into the wheel along with the blast material. For this purpose a plurality of adjusting screws 45 thread into sleeve nuts 46 suitably secured to collar 3i. The feed hopper 40 has a series of ears 48 through; which the several adjustin screws 45 pass, each adjusting screw having a collar 4? pinned thereto whereby the screws may be rotated in the ears 48 but immovable axially with respect thereto.

possibleby unloosening set screws 32, also carries with it the feed hopper 40, thus maintaining the alignment of the several outlet tubes 42 and feed tubes 29 regardless of the rotary adjustment of the control cage 30 or vertical adjustment of feed hopper 4D.

Suitable feed means (not shown) supplies blasting material to feed hopper ii), the flow of this material being controlled by an abrasive control valve 29 suitably swung on a shaft 50. Valve 49 is set to keep the hopper 40 full during operation to get correct and uniform feed to each tube being used.

It will thus be seen that, as abrasive or other blasting material is fed to feed hopper 40, this material drops through the several outlet pipes 4!, 42 into their respective feed tubes 29. This material drops by gravity, being deflected by the bafiles 33 horizontally through the several mouths 34 of the control cage at which point the material will be picked up by the blades 24 of the rotating wheel. This wheel picks up the blast material from each particular feed opening and discharges it tangentially at a point circumferentially removed from the particular feed opening, depending upon the speed of the wheel. That is to say, assuming that only one feed tube 29is being fed, this material will be discharged from the wheel in a single given direction in accordance with the well known characteristics of the directional blasting wheel known as the Wheelabrator and These manufactured by American Foundry Equipment Company, of Mishawaka, Indiana.

Just as the use of a single feed tube 29 will result in a directional blast pattern of limited circumferential extent, this pattern may be extended by the use of one or more additional feed tubes. The particular direction of any one particular blast pattern from any one particular tube 29 may be adjusted by unloosening the set screws 32 and rotating the control cage 39, to the proper clockdial position to obtain the corresponding desired clockdial discharge position.

It will be obvious from the above that any circumfe'rential pattern extent may be obtained depending upon the number of tubes in use. With all six tubes working, six streams of abrasive are fed to the wheel, each stream leaving the cage through one of the six equally spaced openings.

Each stream is then picked up by the wheel blades and thrown out in the same manner as with only one cage opening working. However, the sum total of all six streams results in a 360 blast pattern composed of six overlapping patterns each extending individually more than 60.

The use of a plurality of adjoining directional control patterns has additional advantages. These patterns may be made to overlap as illustrated in Fig. 5 which shows patterns from two tubes on a cylindrical target. Patterns A and B overlap as indicated. It is characteristic of directiona wheels that the intensity of each pattern is greatest at the center of the blast, taperoff at the sides, the center being sometimes referred to as the hot spot. These hot spots are indicated diagrammatically by A and B. It will thus be seen that the use of overlapping adjoining blasts helps eliminate uneven intensity since the overlapping edges of the blasts increase the intensity at these points to a value more nearly equal to that or the hot spots.

As stated above, the use of an additional tube extends the pattern area and evens out the blast intensity. The number of feed tubes used and the relative position of the wheel to the work determines which tubes should be used in any particular setup.

With two or more consecutive tubes feeding in the six tube setup shown, the points of most intense blast or hot spots are about 60 apart on a surface concentric with the wheel. The patterns from any two adjacent openings merge and appear as a very uniform blast.

The improved blast uniformity is particularly desirable in dry paint applications where a mixture of dry paint and abrasive is thrown at a wood surface for obtaining color effects, for example, by the method and apparatus disclosed in Lehman Patent No. 2,345,942, granted April 4, 1944.

Fig. 6 illustrates another application for use of the multi-feed blastin device. Here five tubes are used, resulting in a total blasting arc of about 270. Bowling pins, indicated by 55, are shown moving in the direction of the arrows on a monorail conveyor indicated diagrammatically by 54. The monorail conveyor rides around a 270 are as indicated.

Diiferent effects may be obtained by changing the size of the feed apertures or mouths 34 of the several feed tubes. In this way the amount of abrasive can be controlled. For example, it may be desired to obtain a blast from one tube of thirty pounds per minute and the blast from the next tube of only ten pounds per minute to tone down or modify the effect of the first or heavy blast. Such an arrangement may be useful with work passing the wheel in a straight line. In such a case three tubes may be used for example, the center tube delivering less blast than the adjoining thus compensating for the weaker intensity of the end blasts due to operating through greater distances.

Further possibilities are the use of different abrasives in the different tubes and the use of different color pigments in the different tubes.

Also, if desired, two wheels may be used, each wheel using four or five feed tubes and the work may be fed alOng a tortuous S-shape path around and between the wheels. The work, for example, may be a high chair which is being either blasted or painted. The chair may be spinning while it is traveling and in addition, the wheels may be moving up and down in the direction of their axes by adjustably moving the entire support vertically, as above set forth.

While certain novel features of the invention have been disclosed herein, and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a multi-feed directional control blast device, an operatively rotatable wheel having throwin blades, and a plurality of operatively stationary feed tubes, each feed tube terminating adjacent the inner ends of said blades and extending to a point external oi the wheel, whereby the material fed to each tube may be controlled independently of the others.

2. In a multi-feed blast device, an operatively rotatable wheel having a plurality of blades, a plurality of operatively stationary feed conduits having discharge openings adjacent the inner ends of said blades and feed openings external to the wheel, whereby the material fed to each conduit may be controlled independently of the others.

3. In a multi-feed directional control blast device, a throwing wheel comprising blades, a control cage disposed adjacent the inner ends of the blades, said control cage comprising a plurality of feed tubes, each feed tube terminating in a control cage openin adjacent the inner ends of said blades, a cage support, and means for adjusting the clockdial position of said cage with respect to said support.

4. In a multi-feed directional control throwing device, a throwing wheel comprising blades, a control cage disposed Within the space adjacent the inner edges of the blades, said control cage comprising an outer control tube having a plurality of feed tubes therein, each feed tube terminating in an oblique bafile plate and having an outwardly directed control cage opening adjacent the inner edges of said blades, a cage support, and means for adjusting the clockdial position of said cage with respect to said support.

5. In a multi-feed directional control centrifugal throwing device, a horizontal wheel comprising spaced side plates, a vertical shaft driving the lower plate, radial blades between the plates, the upper plate having an opening, a control cage disposed within said opening adjacent the inner edges of the blades, said control cage comprising an outer control tube having a plurality of feed tubes therein, each feed tube terminating in a radially directed control cage opening, a cage support surrounding said cage, means engaging said support for holding said control cage in proper rotary position, a feed hopper having a plurality of outlet pipes, one for each feed tube, disposed above said case, adjustable devices for vertically adjusting said feed hopper mounted on said collar.

6. In a multi-feed directional control centrifugal blast device, a horizontal wheel comprising spaced side plates, a vertical shaft driving the lower plate, radial blades between the plates, the upper plate having an opening, a control cage disposed within said opening adjacent the inner edges of the blades, said control cage comprising an outer control tube having a plurality of feed tubes therein, each feed tube terminating in an oblique bafile plate and a radially directed control cage opening, a cage support surrounding said cage, a collar secured to said cage and surrounding said support, set screws in said collar engaging said support for holding said control cage in proper rotary position, a feed hopper having a plurality of outlet pipes, one for each feed tube, disposed above said cage, adjustable devices for vertically adjusting said feed hopper mounted on said collar.

7. In a multi-feed, directional control blast device, an operatively rotatable wheel having throwing blades, said blades terminating short of the center of the wheel to provide a central space, the plane of said wheel being generally horizontal, a plurality of operatively stationary, generally vertical feed tubes, the inner ends of said tubes being eccentrically disposed within said central space and having circumferentially spaced openings terminating adjacent the inner ends of said blades, the outer ends of said tubes extending separately to a source of blast material outside the wheel.

8. In a multi-feed blast device, an operatively rotatable wheel having a plurality of blades, the plane of said wheel being disposed generally horizontally, a plurality of operatively stationary feed conduits having discharge openings spaced circumferentially and disposed adjacent the inner ends of said blades, said feed conduits extending separately to a source of blast material outside the wheel, whereby each feed conduit provides a separate directional blast and the circumferential extent of the overall blast pattern is determined by the number of conduits feeding.

EDGAR A. LEl-IMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,077,636 Minich Apr. 20, 1937 2,077,637 Minich Apr. 20, 1937 2,135,510 Hollingsworth Nov. 8, 1938 2,170,831 Minich Aug. 29, 1939 2,204,618 Peik June 18, 1940 2,275,434 Hobson Mar. 10, 1942 2,363,437 Peterson Nov. 21, 1944 

